Bishop McNamara High School Breaks Ground on Innovation Center
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17 Dec Bishop McNamara High School Breaks Ground on Innovation Center

Posted at 20:49h in General, News, Views by

Forestville, MD- December 2, 2019 – Bishop McNamara High School held its historic groundbreaking ceremony to mark the beginning of construction of its new “La Reine Science & Innovation Center” on Thursday, December 12, 2019. The ceremony took place at the future site located in front of 6800 Marlboro Pike, Forestville, MD.

With the vision to ‘Innovate. Transform. Thrive,’ The La Reine Science & Innovation Center will be a hub for technology, collaboration and discovery by offering new academic programs in Science, Technology, Cybersecurity, Engineering, Entrepreneurship, and Multimedia. By providing students with next generation, hands-on learning experiences, Bishop McNamara hopes to develop the innovators of tomorrow. The doors of the new center are expected to open in June, 2021.

Under the creative direction of Grimm + Parker, an architecture firm and leader in sustainable design in partnership with Scheibel Construction, an award-winning general contractor, this 20,000-square-foot building will provide deep, hands-on learning experiences for students community to explore, create, discover, collaborate and innovate.

The Center will offer seven classrooms, five of them as customary science labs, featuring two chemistry, two physics and a health science lab. The state-of-the-art innovation lab will be the centerpiece of the building, complete with industry leading hardware such as 3D printers, vinyl cutters, drill presses and computer components that can make a machine run and affect its performance.

During the school day, Bishop McNamara will occupy the Center for preparing students for success in higher education and the workforce of the future. After school hours, the Center will function as a hub for adult learners in Career Technology Education (CTE) earning certificate programs in cybersecurity, CCNA, and other certifications in various fields. As a proud partner with the citizens of Prince George’s County, the new Center will develop tomorrow’s innovators.

“The La Reine Science & Innovation Center will be a game changer, not only for Bishop McNamara students, but for the Prince George’s County community as a whole,” said Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks. “We know that STEM education is critical to ensuring our young people can compete professionally after high school. The education and training that will be offered at the Center will lay the groundwork for our students to enter a workforce that is technology and science driven. In addition, this groundbreaking is exciting because the programs offered will help adults and seniors re-tool and adapt to an ever-changing work environment.”

The expansion of Bishop McNamara has been greatly supported by school administrators, community leaders, teachers, students and generous benefactors.

“Bishop McNamara High School has proven to be an institution that provides high academic and leadership results, and now with the help of the ‘Faith. Family. Future’ capital campaign, we’re able to expand our footprint in the community and really provide unprecedented opportunities to develop the innovators of tomorrow,” said President/CEO Dr. Marco J. Clark ‘85 who will be departing his beloved alma mater at the end of the school year after 23 years of service and 31 years in the Archdiocese of Washington.

Beginning in July, 2020, Dr. Clark will be moving into a new role that has an international reach in Catholic education. As the first lay Executive Director of the Holy Cross Institute at St. Edward’s University, Dr. Clark will provide leadership, support, training and resources for Holy Cross Schools throughout the U.S. and in other countries including Brazil, Chile, Haiti, Uganda, Ghana, India and Bangladesh.

About Bishop McNamara High School
Since 1964, Bishop McNamara High School, a Catholic, Holy Cross, coeducational, college preparatory, liberal arts school for grades 9-12 has provided wide ranging and evolving curricular and co-curricular activities for students to learn and practice the Catholic faith in a dynamic, inclusive school community. The school integrates this faith message, rooted in the Holy Cross tradition, within all its activities by relating the Gospel to content areas, by the living example of its employees, by partnership with families, and by service to the wider world. To learn more about the school, visit: bmhs.org.